Arsenal are edging closer to a possible move for French goal machine, Andre-Pierre Gignac.

He’s reportedly turn down a contract extension at the Stade de Velodrome according to Le 10 Sport, desiring rather to make a move to the Premier League sooner than later. The 28-year old has a keen long-term admirer in Arsene Wenger and with the Frenchman thought to still be on the lookout for good attacking additions to his team, the availability of Gignac would appeal to him.

Gignac’s current deal with Marseille runs out this coming summer, and he is able to agree a pre-contract agreement come January, a situation similar to that of Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski when he agreed a move from Dortmund to Bayern in January before finalizing the deal in June.

The big strong Frenchman has been in scintillating form this season in Ligue 1, having hit the net on 12 occasions in just 10 games, showing the form which once saw him linked with a move to the Emirates back in 2008 while he was a youngster with Toulouse. He was also on the score sheet for Les Blues in one of their games during the International break.

Wenger is now keen on signing the big striker to add to the options available upfront, with a January bid already been discussed. There is the incentive of Gignac’s contract due to run out by the end of next summer, putting Marseille in a position where they’ll have to make a decision between squeezing out the last of him till May and let him go for free or get as much as possible from the winter window, as it is believed the player would jump at the opportunity to attract more notice from Didier Deschamps by moving to a bigger club.

But with the likes of Danny Welbeck, Lukas Podolski, Joel Campbell, and fellow Frenchmen Olivier Giroud and Yaya Sanogo already in the team as forwards, one has to wonder who whether there could be a need for one or two to make way from the team to accommodate Gignac. Danny Welbeck’s recent form and potential clearly distinguishes him from the rest, the pick will surely be from the rest of the pack.

Podolski?

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